Flow control apparatus for flush valves of toilets

ABSTRACT

A flow control apparatus for flush valves of toilets is installed between the water intake end and the water outflow valve of a flush valve. It aims to generate a constant water outflow quantity under fluctuating water pressure. The flow control apparatus includes a flow control valve which has a flexible valve casing with a valve diameter alterable responding to fluctuation of water pressure to allow water to pass through and a filter which may be integrated with or independent from the flow control valve for filtering water flowing through the water outflow valve.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a flow control apparatus for flush valves oftoilets and particularly to a flow control apparatus that changes thediameter of the valve according to variations of intake water pressureto control water flow so that water outflow quantity and time do notfluctuate due to alteration of water pressure at the installationlocation of the flush valve.

2. Description of the Prior Art

There are generally two ways to flushing toilets with water, one useswater tank and another one is direct flush. The water tank can storewater and generate water pressure to control water flow to flush thetoilet. Its structure is less likely to be affected by fluctuations ofwater pressure in the water inlet tube, and water outflow and time aremore steady with less fluctuations. However, it requires a larger spacefor installation. The direct flush directly supplies flushing waterthrough one end of a water pipe. It has a flush valve bridging betweenthe distal end of the water pipe and the toilet. The structure usuallyincludes a corner valve directly connecting to one end of a water inlettube to keep water constantly presented in normal conditions. Aconnection tube is connected to a water outflow valve to control wateroutflow. The water outlet end of the water outflow valve is directlyconnected to the water inlet of the toilet. A depressing rod or controlbutton is provided to actuate the opening of the water outflow valve andset flushing time so that water is discharged directly from the distalend of the water pipe to flush the toilet. Such a flush structure cansave the space of toilet. It also does not need the water controlmechanisms in the water tank and the precise matching of plug and floatball that often cause water leaking or overflow when wear off ormisalignment occurs. However, in practice, the diameter of the valvecannot be changed to adjust water outflow. Water outflow quantity andtime fluctuate due to variations of water pressure in the connectingwater pipe. When water pressure is higher on the installed location,water outflow quantity increases in the same time period being set. As aresult, water resource is waste and water bill is higher. In addition,due to higher water pressure and faster water discharge speed, waterflushing into the toiler tends to hit the side wall of the toilet andsplash outside the toilet with sewage, and the environment iscontaminated and polluted. On the other hand, when water pressure islower, water discharge force is not adequate, and flushing effectsuffers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a flush valve thatallows variation of water pressure to affect water outflow quantitythereby to prevent waste of water resource and environmental pollutioncaused by water splash due to too high of water pressure or noneffective flushing due to too low of water pressure.

The flow control apparatus of the flush valve according to the inventioncan alter the diameter of the valve according to pressure variation ofintake water so that water outflow can be controlled, and instantaneouswater outflow into the toilet can be maintained constant. The structureincludes:

-   -   A flow control valve which has a diameter alterable according to        water pressure so that water flowing through the valve is        constant; and    -   A filter which may be coupled with the flow control valve in an        integrated fashion or be an independent item. It is located at        the front section of the water outflow valve for filtering        intake water.

In one embodiment of the invention, the flow control valve and thefilter are located between the water inlet end of the flush valve andthe water inlet end of the water outflow valve. The diameter of the flowcontrol valve is alterable flexibly according to pressure variation ofintake water. When water pressure is higher, the flow control valve iscompressed and deformed under the impact of the high water pressure, andthe diameter becomes smaller, consequently instantaneous water quantityflowing through the valve decreases, and total water outflow quantitycan be maintained constant. On the other hand, when water pressure islower, the diameter of the flow control valve maintains as that innormal conditions, and instantaneous water outflow quantity through thevalve is greater than that when the water pressure is higher, and totalwater outflow quantity can still be maintained constant. By means of theflow control valve, water outflow quantity can be maintained constant toflush the toilet without affected by water pressure variation atdifferent installation locations.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages ofthe invention will be more readily apparent from the following detaileddescription, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an integrated assembly installed in aflush valve according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the structure of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the integrated assemblyinstalled in a flush valve.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the integratedassembly installed in a flush valve.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of yet another embodiment of the integratedassembly installed in a flush valve.

FIG. 7 a sectional view of still another embodiment of the integratedassembly installed in a flush valve.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view of the flow control apparatus inoperating condition.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a separated assemblyinstalled in a flush valve.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of another embodiment of a separatedassembly installed in a flush valve.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of yet another embodiment of a separatedassembly installed in a flush valve.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Refer to FIGS. 1 through 7 for the structure of the invention accordingto a first type of embodiments. It mainly includes a flow control valve1 with an alterable valve diameter responding to variations of waterpressure to control water flowing through the valve, and a filter 2 tofilter intake water. The filter 2 is integrated with the flow controlvalve 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the flow control valve 1 is made from aflexible plastics or rubber by extrusion or injection. It has a valveopening 12 which is changeable under external forces. The flow controlvalve 1 has an annular valve casing 11 with the valve opening 12 formedin the center to allow water to pass through.

The valve casing 11 of the flow control valve 1 has one side receivingwater pressure. That side may be attached to a rigid pressure receivingelement 13. It may be integrated with the valve casing 11 by extrusionor plastic injection technique. As shown in FIG. 3, such a structureenables the flow control valve 1 to receive water pressure more evenly.

The filter 2 has a cage type barrel 21. As the embodiment shown in FIGS.1 and 2, the filter 2 is a mesh structure containing a plurality offilter pores that allow water to flow through smoothly and filter outimpurities so that the needle water outflow valve 31 in the flush valve3 may be avoided from being clogged by the impurities and not operable.

In the first type of environments set forth above, the flow controlvalve 1 and the filter 2 may have different combinations andconfigurations. FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment in which the flowcontrol valve 1 is located in a chamber 23 of the filter 2 to become anintegrated member, then is housed in a connection tube 32 of the flushvalve 3. Of course the installation direction in the connection tube 32has many options. FIG. 1 shows that the filter 2 is located at the frontsection of the flow control valve 1. FIG. 4 shows a configurationcontrary to the FIG. 1. FIG. 5 shows the flow control apparatus isinstalled in a valve chamber 33 on one side of the flush valve 3, andthe flow control valve 1 is located at the front end of the filter 2.FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate another type of structure. The flow controlvalve 1 and the filter 2 are integrated and located in the juncture of awater inlet tube 4 and a corner valve 34. Of course the installationdirection has other options to allow the pressure receiving element 13to face the water intake direction.

When the flush valve 3 equipped with the flow control apparatus isinstalled on a location where water intake pressure is higher, the highpressure water flows through the water inlet tube 4 and enters the flowcontrol valve 1 to generate a compression pressure on the pressurereceiving element 13, the flexible valve casing 11 abutting the pressurereceiving element 13 is compressed axially and deformed. As a result,the valve opening 12 is shrunk. Therefore instantaneous water flowpassing through the valve opening 12 decreases.

When water intake pressure is lower at the installation location, thelow pressure water flows through the water inlet tube 4 and enters theflow control valve 1 without compressing the pressure receiving element13 as shown in FIG. 2. Thus water can flow through the normal valveopening 12 to achieve a greater instantaneous water flow than the highwater pressure condition previous discussed. Hence, by installing theflow control valve 1 at the front section of the water outflow valve 31,instantaneous water flow passing through the water outflow valve 31 canbe maintained constant, and instantaneous water released from the wateroutflow valve 31 can flush the toilet in a constant quantity at aconstant time.

The structure of the invention set forth above may have many variationswithin the disclosed design concept. FIGS. 9 through 12 illustrate thestructures and assemblies of a second type of embodiments. Like thefirst type of embodiments previously discussed, there is a flow controlvalve 1 with alterable valve diameter to respond variations of waterpressure and control water flowing through the valve, and a filter 2 tofilter intake water.

The characteristics are as Follows:

The flow control valve 1 and the filter 2 are separated and installedindependently in the flush valve 3. Many different installationlocations may be adopted. FIG. 9 shows that the flow control valve 1 islocated in the connection tube 32 while the filter 2 is located in thechamber 33 of the flush valve 3. FIG. 10 shows another arrangement inwhich the flow control valve 1 is located at the front side of a distalend of the water inlet tube 4 and the corner valve 34 while the filter 2is located in the connection tube 32. FIG. 11 shows yet anotherarrangement in which the flow control valve 1 is located in the wateroutflow valve 31 and connects to the water inlet end of the waterdischarge tube 5 of the toilet, while the filter 2 is located in thechamber 33 on one side of the flush valve 3. All the types andembodiments set forth above can provide same water flow control effectto enable water released from the water outflow valve 31 to pass throughthe flow control valve 1 and maintain a constant instantaneous waterquantity to flush into the toilet.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth forthe purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments ofthe invention as well as other embodiment thereof may occur to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended tocover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

1. A flow control apparatus for a flush valve of a toilet, comprising: aflow control valve having a flexible valve casing which has a valveopening with a diameter alterable responding to variations of waterpressure; and a filter for filtering intake water at one end of a waterpipe.
 2. The flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow controlvalve and the filter are assembled in an integrated manner and installedbetween the flush valve and a water inlet tube of the toilet.
 3. Theflow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow control valve andthe filter are separately installed between the flush valve and a waterinlet tube of the toilet.
 4. The flow control apparatus of claim 3,wherein the filter is separately installed on a front section of theflush valve.
 5. The flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flowcontrol valve is separately installed on a rear section of the flushvalve.
 6. The flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flowcontrol valve is separately installed on a front section of the flushvalve.
 7. The flow control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flowcontrol valve includes a rigid pressure receiving element located on oneside thereof.
 8. The flow control apparatus of claim 7, wherein the flowcontrol valve is separately installed on a front section of the flushvalve and the pressure receiving element faces water intake direction.9. The flow control apparatus of claim 7, wherein the flow control valveis separately installed on a rear section of the flush valve and thepressure receiving element faces water outflow direction.